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DIALING IN FOR THE NILOA WEBINAR? Phone: +1 (415) 655-0063 Participant code: 608-437-800
THE THREAD ���THAT RUNS ���SO TRUE
CONNECTING MAJOR INITIATIVES IN A WORLDWIDE EFFORT TO MAKE HIGH QUALITY HIGHER EDUCATION MORE EFFECTIVE
A NILOA Webinar Presented by Paul L. Gaston Trustees Professor, Kent State University
Favorite vegetable
Qualiflower
Favorite animal
QUALIBEAR
Initiatives
DQP
ELO’s
Assessment
Tuning
INTENTIONALITY THE THREAD
THE SPOOL
QUALITY
In every program, every degree In every discipline In every course In every class
By way of contrast, ���a hypothetical letter
Department of Ethereal Studies !Upper Midwest State University
Professor U. R. A. Pedant Editor, Journal of Esoteric Study University of the Lower Midwest Springfield, Iowa 77777 Dear Professor Pedant, It is with pleasure that I attach to this covering e-mail an article for publication in the Journal of Esoteric Study.
In order to avoid any misunderstanding, I want to make it clear that the objectives of this article are nowhere clearly defined or stated.
I ask that you respect my lengthy experience as a scholar and that you assume my intent will emerge in due course.
Because I do not make clear the structure of the article, a reader may not at first understand how its different elements add up to a coherent whole. They have to work at it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I can’t hold every reader’s hand! They are adults, after all.
Also worth your attention is my conviction that any effort on your part to evaluate my article would be at best premature and at worst a violation of my academic freedom.
Many readers who fail to understand my arguments on a first reading may in time—perhaps many years later—come to appreciate their importance. Frankly, in the short term, who is a better judge of my effectiveness as a scholar than I am?
I will look forward to seeing my article in print as soon as possible.
Ridiculous, but . . .
Ever hear . . . ?
“Memorable courses evolve. If you’re too definitive at the beginning about what you hope to accomplish, you leave no room for spontaneity and exploration.” “I have had alums tell me that it wasn’t until years later that they appreciated what they had learned in my course on __________.”
“My syllabus is between me and my students. I don’t want the bloody provost telling me what
it supposedly should include.”
“When I close the door to my classroom, I expect—and my students expect—to be left
alone.”
“Learning outcomes? That may be the latest jargon, but there’s nothing new about that.
Students have been learning stuff for thousands of years.” (2007)
“Of course I’m in favor of assessment. I give grades, don’t I?”
Courses should be allowed to evolve.
Realizing and confirming learning may take years.
A syllabus is a private communication.
The classroom is a privileged enclave.
There’s nothing new about “learning outcomes.”
Grading is a form of assessment.
Care to comment? A grain of truth in some of these statements?
But a commitment to intentionality ���
in the cause of quality ���sounds like . . . .
Here’s our syllabus. First, let’s discuss what we will be learning together in the course of the semester—and how we will be able to demonstrate what we have learned.
How many of you are sociology majors? Would you be willing to share with the class your view of what someone with a bachelor’s degree in sociology should know and be able to do?
That’s great. Now let’s discuss how this course helps to get you there.
Good morning! Today we will look at the important role of rewards in society and consider how changing the rewards can lead to a change in behaviors. By the end of the hour, we should all be able to offer an example of this phenomenon drawn from our own observations.
Any qualms so far?
Following the Thread
DQP
ELO’s
Assessment
Tuning
The Essential Learning Outcomes ��
A new framework to guide students’ cumulative progress through college
The Essential Learning Outcomes �Across the Curriculum
What? When
Knowledge of Human Culture & The Natural World
Intellectual & Practical Skills
Individual & Social Responsibility
First-Year Experiences
A plan of study . . . should clearly connect the expected outcomes to the student’s choice of courses and major field(s). Learning goals, experiences, resources, and assessments should be aligned . . . .
Focused Studies, Major/Minor(s)
Milestone assessments as students progress in their studies in both general education and the major should be tied to key outcomes . . . .
Advanced Integrative & Culminating Work
Experiences in which the student actively demonstrates and is assessed for his or her cumulative accomplishments of the college career.
The Essential Learning Outcomes Are intended to
Provide the academy with a conceptual, aspira>onal frame for a cumula>ve liberal educa>on Guide student and faculty understanding of essen$al outcomes for learning
Are not intended to Define in detail what degrees (associate, bachelor’s, master’s) mean—and how they differ Offer an explicitly opera$onal basis for assessing student performance
Following the Thread
DQP
ELO’s
Assessment
Tuning
Why a Degree Profile? • The DP “describes concretely what is meant by each of the
degrees addressed.” • The DP “illustrates how students should be expected to
perform at progressively more challenging levels.”
What a Degree Profile ���Is Intended To Do
è Offer reference points for students, faculty, advisors, accredita>on
è Create expecta>on for a curriculum that is clearly inten>onal, coherent, cumula>ve
è Encourage assessment è Support ins>tu>onal repor>ng è Provide a baseline for ins>tu>ons seeking to
clarify their dis>nc>veness è Clarify the incremental nature of degree levels,
thereby encouraging progression
What a Degree Profile ���Is NOT Intended To Do
è Standardize degrees è Define what should be taught è Prescribe pedagogy è Encourage rankings, internally or externally
Organization of the Degree Profile
Five areas of learning • Integrative Knowledge • Specialized Knowledge • Intellectual Skills • Applied Learning • Civic Learning shown as interrelated, not discrete
Understanding the outcomes
è They are summa>ve—and may be approached by more than one path
è They are illustra>ve, not exhaus>ve è They define students’ achievement of competence for
students but do not enable ranking è They assume/build on the outcomes defined for prior
levels
Following the Thread���
DQP
ELO’s
Assessment
Tuning
Tuning
QUALITY
Frameworks Degree
Supplement
THE EUROPEAN CONNECTION
Tuning Europe Tuning USA
Differences TUNING EUROPE
Discipline faculty from many nations Focus on baccalaureate Faculty driven Many languages
TUNING USA Discipline faculty within selected states Community colleges Student participation One language
Tuning DQP
What students within specific disciplines should know and be able to do at each stage of a coherent and cumulative curriculum within that discipline.
What students awarded a degree (associate, bachelor’s, master’s) should know and be able to do through a coherent and cumulative curriculum integrating general and disciplinary education.
Tuning USA
DQP
Information gathered from Tuning will illuminate issues bearing on planned revision of the DQP.
Responses to the DQP—especially from employers—can provide a perspective useful to those engaged in Tuning.
Tuning USA
DQP
The more thoroughly Tuning is informed by the DQP, the more coherence there will be among the different Tuning efforts, discipline by discipline, state by state.
The greater the awareness in the DQP of the experience gained through Tuning USA, the more credible and substantive will be its implementation—and second iteration.
Tuning USA
DQP
Tuning offers to the DQP the experience of defining incremental and cumulative stages towards degrees within disciplines.
The DQP offers tuning a new standard of specificity and concreteness in defining learning outcomes for the degree.
Tuning USA
DQP
Following the Thread
DQP
ELO’s
Assessment
Tuning
Assessment & the DQP ���Three Principles
1 The statements of learning outcomes in the DQP are meant to invite—not to prescribe—assessment
2 Because those who use the DQP determine the level at
which the outcomes are to be met, the most effective assessments may be developed locally
3 In response to considerable feedback, DQP 2.0 (2014)
will offer resources for assessment, including sample approaches, that users may find helpful
Assessment & the DQP ���For Instance
1 Faculty members might be asked to identify the DQP learning outcomes that they emphasize in a particular course 2 For each outcome, faculty members might identify
assignments they currently use that lead to outcomes assessable in terms of the outcome statements: e.g., exam questions, papers, performance instructions, lab exercises, etc.
One approach, cont’d
3 Having reviewed such traditional measures, faculty committees might propose one or more approaches to genuine “assessment” 4 Several recommended assessments for each learning
outcome, throughout the curriculum, could emerge 5 Rubrics of performance and grading remain in the hands
of individual faculty
US Higher Ed
Bologna Reforms
DQP Tuning USA
Global Attention
Bologna Mundus
ELO’s
Assessment
The thread that ties together a global aspiration���
for Higher Education���
Intentionality
The spool that keeps ���the thread of intentionality���
from unraveling
Commitment to QUALITY
Thanks to colleagues���Clifford Adelman���
Peter Ewell ���Carol Geary Schneider���
Natasha Jankowski ���for their assistance���
in the preparation of this presentation������
This NILOA webinar has in part been adapted from a webinar offered in fall 2012 on behalf of AAC&U. ���
���Thanks also to Lumina Foundation and NILOA
A NILOA Webinar Presented by Paul L. Gaston
Trustees Professor, Kent State University
OFFICE 330-672-6003 [email protected]